US withdraws from UNESCO

The United States has announced its decision to withdraw from the cultural organisation of UN, UNESCO. One of the reasons stated was the organisation’s “anti-Israel bias”. The US however said in a statement that it would "continue to informally engage with it." The US had begun to distance it from Unesco as far back as 2011, during the time of Barack Obama administration, when it stopped funding the organisation, after Unesco admitted Palestine Authority as a full member. The American withdrawal goes into effect at the end of 2018.13 Oct 2017, 3:38PM IST